Konami may opt to shift to this engine for PES 2020 – allowing for a best-in-class mobile game and a substantially improved console and PC offering.

PES on Nintendo Switch

Sadly, there was no Nintendo Switch version last year – which gave FIFA a big advantage (admittedly, sales of the Switch version at launch contributed to around one per cent of total sales in the UK – so hardly Earth shattering).

Although FIFA on Switch is a solid port, it’s some way behind the other console versions – making it more vulnerable from an attack from PES.

This would especially be the case should Konami move to Unreal – which has been proven to scale well on Switch in titles such as Outlast 2.

Believe it or not this is a screenshot from Outlast 2 on the Nintendo Switch – powered by a scaled-down version of the Unreal Engine

Speaking to Eurogamer a while ago, Konami’s Adam Bhatti, said: “I’ve been saying to a lot of people, we have a great relationship with Nintendo – we’ve obviously brought out Bomberman which has done fantastic for the Switch. So as a company it’s a platform that we’re looking at, for sure.

“So for PES it’s just – we never want to say no, we never want to close the door. Let’s see how it goes. Personally speaking, I love the machine. We think it’s definitely performed amazingly well. And we really hope that it continues to do very well.”

There’s a huge untapped market here for PES – and one Konami can’t afford to ignore for much longer.

Improved servers and matchmaking

One of the biggest challenges facing the recent PES games are the servers – with thousands struggling to find a game from the off.

Konami boosted server quality last year as well as refined matchmaking to allow lag-free online gaming.

FIFA is far from perfect, and is often criticised for lag and input delay when played online.

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